BERKELEY, Calif. – Gabrielle Otero increased her winning streak to three matches, but it was not enough as the No. 40 LSU women’s tennis team fell 4-1 to No. 24 Pepperdine in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Tournament held at Hellman Tennis Complex.

“Our girls fought really hard,” said LSU head coach Julia S. Sell. “I told them after the match that I thought they made LSU proud today. They represented the LSU Nation with a lot of class and a lot of heart. Credit to Pepperdine. They played a really solid, very mature match and were able to close us out of a few matches.”

The Lady Tigers finish the season 14-14 after earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Sell. Pepperdine is now 19-4 on the season.

Otero won her fourth match on court six and her third during the postseason as she defeated Pepperdine’s Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai 6-4, 6-4 to give the Lady Tigers their lone point of the match.

“Gabrielle (Otero) shows the evolution of a freshman,” said sell. “At the beginning of the year, she was playing very nervous and she was worried about winning and losing too much. The last few weeks, she’s just calmed down mentally and gotten back to the basics of tennis, and she’s been shining through ever since.”

LSU and Pepperdine split the first two doubles courts. On court two, Abigail Owens and partner Otero fell 8-0 to No. 78 Michaela Capannolo and Yuki Chaing. On court three, Ella Taylor and Skylar Holloway took the lead and never looked back as they defeated Ale Granillo and Matea Cutura 8-2.